The SmartWater Foundation was formed in 2009 as a not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee, with the chief aim of providing free or subsidized access to cutting edge SmartWater® forensic technology to hard-pressed communities without the necessary financial resources.
Utilizing recently patented technology developed by SmartWater’s US and UK commercial entities and working in partnership with major law enforcement agencies worldwide, the enhanced traceable liquid technology represents a real risk to the criminal fraternity, particularly those unscrupulous enough to buy suspected stolen property, ‘no questions asked’.
With a new focus on research efforts to develop new forensic technology suitable to protect the World’s cultural heritage that is at risk of being stolen, Dr. Colette Loll has served as senior advisor to the Foundation. In recent years she has focused on facilitating the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund grant award which funds the program of safeguarding thousands of museum artifacts in Iraq and Yemen through the application of the traceable liquid SmartWater®. The project trains Iraqi and Yemeni heritage professionals in SmartWater application and the enhancement of digital records of artifacts encoded with the traceable solution. The project Director is Professor Roger Matthews of Reading University (UK).
Click here to read a full report on the project: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q_-yCsJy-pWZ_ZtNKSjrkMh2sN9kpjVf/view
To learn more about SmartWater Foundation, please visit: http://www.smartwaterfoundation.org/
In the news:
The AC Digs Into: Anti-Theft ‘Fingerprints’ for At-Risk Antiquities, Antiquities Coalition, 2020
Archeologists in Syria Use ‘Data Water’ To Confound Antiquities Smugglers by Deborah Amos, NPR Morning Edition
New Tool to Stop ISIS From Trafficking Artifacts: A Liquid Tracking Device by Max Kutner, Newsweek
Saving Syria’s Heritage: Archeologists discover invisible solution by Frank Gardner, BBC World News
The heritage of the Middle East and North Africa — the Cradle of Civilization — is under threat. Terrorist organizations like Daesh are destroying the region’s history to erase cultural identity, while also looting and trafficking antiquities to fund their cause. These attacks against heritage create long-lasting economic damage, jeopardize national security, and threaten future peace in the region.
Following the 2015 Cairo Conference and New York Forum, the Antiquities Coalition convened the #CultureUnderThreat Task Force to develop recommendations that the United States government can take to confront this growing threat to humanity’s shared cultural heritage and global security. The task force brings together leading thinkers from the worlds of heritage, business, law, policy, security, and technology. Our report includes a list of specific steps that can be taken by the Administration, Congress, the armed forces, and the law enforcement community.
Colette Loll served on this Task Force. To learn more about the Task Force please visit: http://taskforce.theantiquitiescoalition.org/
The #CultureUnderThreat Task Force Report Release was presented by The Antiquities Coalition in association with The Asia Society and The Middle East Institute on Wednesday April 13, 2016 at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC.
You can view the full report here:
https://theantiquitiescoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Culture-Under-Threat-Task-Force-Report-Complete-Document-.pdf